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Fuel tanks intact on grounded VLOC Stellar BannerFuel tanks intact on grounded VLOC Stellar Banner

Brazilian miner Vale says that the fuel tanks on the stranded very large ore carrier (VLOC) Stellar Banner remain intact as two oil spill response vessels reach the site of the grounding.

Marcus Hand, Editor

March 3, 2020

2 Min Read
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Vale said that two oil spill recovery vessels (OSRVs) from Brazilian state oil firm Petrobras has reached the grounded VLOC 100 km off the coast of São Luís, in the state of Maranhão, Brazil.

The 2016-built VLOC is chartered by Vale from Polaris Shipping in South Korea and it said that according to the owners the vessels fuel tanks remain intact and are located on the stern of the vessel on the opposite side to where the vessel is damaged. There are fears that the fuel tanks holding 3,500 tonnes of marine fuel oil and 150 tonnes of gas oil could rupture causing a major oil spill.

“The OSRV vessels were requested from Petrobras for preventive reasons, as part of a set of actions to contain any oil leakage. Thus far, the MV Stellar Banner has been preventively surrounded by a 200 m barrier made of buoys suitable to contain oil in the sea,” Vale said.

Polaris Shipping said in a statement that the oil barrier had now been removed and an anti-pollution team remains on standby.

The shipowner is now moving forward with plans to de-bunker the vessel. "Thanks to the orchestrated effort from multiple parties, including Vale, the company is now seeking to accelerate arrival of a bunker barge at the site to offload remaining fuel oil in the tanks," the company said.

Related:Rush to prevent bunker spill from grounded VLOC Stellar Banner

"The detailed de-bunkering plan was submitted to the Navy for review and the operation will be completed in the coming weeks, weather permitting."

Polaris said the vessel grounded on a sandbank remained stable under its own power.

The 2016 built, 300,660 dwt VLOC Stellar Banner suffered damage to its bow after leaving port in the northern Brazilian state of Maranhao on 24 February, its crew of 20 were safely evacuated.

The vessel was bound for the Chinese city of Qingdao with 275,000 tonnes of iron ore, according to Refinitiv data.

It is not the first casualty involved a Polaris Shipping owned VLOC chartered to Vale, the converted Stellar Daisy sank on 31 March 2017 with the loss of 22 lives.

 

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About the Author

Marcus Hand

Editor

Marcus Hand is the editor of Seatrade Maritime News and a dedicated maritime journalist with over two decades of experience covering the shipping industry in Asia.

Marcus is also an experienced industry commentator and has chaired many conferences and round tables. Before joining Seatrade at the beginning of 2010, Marcus worked for the shipping industry journal Lloyd's List for a decade and before that the Singapore Business Times covering shipping and aviation.

In November 2022, Marcus was announced as a member of the Board of Advisors to the Singapore Journal of Maritime Talent and Technology (SJMTT) to help bring together thought leadership around the key areas of talent and technology.

Marcus is the founder of the Seatrade Maritime Podcast that delivers commentary, opinions and conversations on shipping's most important topics.

Conferences & Webinars

Marcus Hand regularly moderates at international maritime events. Below you’ll find a list of selected past conferences and webinars.

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